Samsung Cancels Ground-Breaking Ceremony for New R&D Centre in Vietnam Over Coronavirus Concerns

Samsung has invested $220 million to build a new research and development centre in Vietnam. The company had planned to celebrate with a ground-breaking ceremony over the weekend. However, due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, those plans were unfortunately cancelled.

The news came by way of Business Insider, who reported that the ceremony was cancelled last minute due to travel restrictions on South Koreans in place by the Vietnamese government. Originally, Samsung had planned to host the ground-breaking ceremony on Saturday. A Samsung representative spoke to Business Insider and confirmed the cancellation but did not divulge any additional information.

Samsung has plans to complete the construction of the R&D centre in Hanoi, Vietnam by 2022. Samsung Vietnam has stated that the centre will employ between 2,200 and 3,000 employees.



As it stands, the centre will become the largest of its kind in South-East Asia and will allow Samsung to research fields of interest such as AI, 5G networking, and other points of interest regarding internet connection.

According to a statement from a Samsung Vietnam representative, Samsung is the single largest foreign investor in Vietnam. The total investments made by Samsung have reached upwards of $17 billion.

Vietnam has also become one of Samsung’s main export hubs, with regards to smartphone manufacturing.